


Painful reunion

by WahlBuilder



Category: Horus Heresy - Various Authors
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Sick Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-29
Updated: 2016-04-29
Packaged: 2018-06-05 07:34:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6695599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WahlBuilder/pseuds/WahlBuilder
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Calas is sick after the Heresy is stopped. Garro visits his brother.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Painful reunion

At first Garro couldn’t recognise him. The big, bulky Terminator, one of the biggest in the Legion, was so thin he could easily be mistaken for a mortal. He was curled on his side on the cot, not pale but grey, and sickly black veins pulsed under his skin, wrapped around his body like a spiderweb.

He was trapped in it.

Garro stepped closer and had to beathe through his mouth; the air was thick with stench of old blood and acid spit and something sharp and cold, like ice, underneath.

‘Brother,’ he called quietly, coming to the cot. The sheets were damp with sweat and blood and black mucus. He looked around and pulled a chair to himself. 

Calas shuddered, wrapped arms with protruding bones around himself and looked at him. His eyes were black as they were among the Raven Guard. ‘Garro? You look good.’ His voice was parchment-thin and dry, and it reminded Garro painfully of their father’s voice that he had heard a few hours ago. At least Calas didn’t have a lisp from his mouth being ruined.

Mortarion’s words had been barely recognizable.

‘You look… better,’ he said gently and reached out to touch his skin but his fingers prickled and arcane writings glowed to blue life on Calas all over his body.

‘Don’t. However, the wards are not helping much.’ Calas let out a laugh that clicked like an empty gun. ‘They cannot contain my power. The sons of Magnus said I could have become Magister Templi after proper training. Whatever that means.’

‘We will ask the Crimson King to work with you when he comes to Terra,’ Garro promised, trying to sound reassuring.

He hoped that Calas would live to see the Crimson King.

‘If it doesn’t kill me before that…’ Calas rolled onto his back, and Garro had to take a moment to stop himself from crying out. The black veins — or whatever they were — were curled at the center of Calas’s chest, shifting, moving like colonies of spiders with wobbly legs. ‘I am dying constantly and my… _gift_ is constantly pushing back. It is untreatable until my telekinesis stops fighting it, and I can’t control it. So, unless someone comes and helps…’ He smiled. A few of his teeth were missing, and the remaining were rotten stumps in white gums.

‘You know what I’m thinking about?’ His voice shook Garro out of his horrified state. ‘Barbarusian spicy stew, as spicy as it could be. And Chogorian butter tea.’ His face was being split by tears thick like blood. ‘You think father would let me have some before killing me? You think he would grant me a quick death?’

Garro swallowed and found Calas’s hand, cold and dry and so small. ‘Nobody’s going to kill you, brother. You will live. We need you, your Khan needs you. And I will stay until he comes, until you feel better.’

Calas closed his eyes as black tears streamed down his face, and soon, he was asleep.

Garro kept his vigil over his brother.

**Author's Note:**

> Crossposted from [tumblr](kaimalak.tumblr.com/post/143595204180/the-fluffy-underbelly).


End file.
